‘Egypt’s army ready to launch Sinai operation’

Cairo closes off routes in and out of the peninsula in an effort to thwart further terrorist attacks on security checkpoints.

Egyptian soldier in Sinai 370.
(photo credit:REUTERS)

The Egyptian army is strengthening its presence in Sinai and trying to close off
routes in and out of the region while it continues to destroy tunnels that
connect with Gaza, according to a report by the Egyptian paper Al-Masry Al-Youm
on Sunday.

Egyptian military forces have prohibited fishing off the coast
of northern Sinai in order to stop Palestinian terrorists from entering by sea,
according to Egyptian security officials quoted by the Palestinian Ma'an News
Agency on Sunday.

The army crackdown on the tunnels has led many to enter
Egypt on fishing boats at night, according to the report.

A boat carrying
10 Palestinians was recently intercepted by the Egyptian coast guard and four of
them belong to a jihadist group in Gaza, according to Egyptian
officials.

Ongoing terrorist attacks in Sinai continued on Sunday with
gunmen attacking security checkpoints in El- Arish by firing three Grad rockets,
killing and injuring a number of people according to a report by the Egyptian
State Information Service.

Meanwhile, Egyptian security forces arrested a
terrorist who attacked a checkpoint on Sunday using automatic weapons. Apache
helicopters helped locate and apprehend the terrorist, according to the Daily
News Egypt.

Sources told the Egyptian paper El-Watan that this week will
be decisive regarding military operations in Sinai and that more than 10
operations will be initiated after various sites have been monitored in
preparation.

Since the toppling of former president Mohamed Morsi by the
army earlier this month radical Islamic terrorists in Sinai have stepped up
their attacks on Egyptian security forces.

There have been reports that
guerrillas originating in Gaza are active in Sinai.